707 Heads Up

Its still just sitting there, to my eye untouched, further away from the hanger than its original position.

They have finally broken up the 747 thats been dying up there for 6+ years, i assume they will do the DC-8 thats next to it whilst the tools are on site

Not this end, I think it is time ‘Manston Airport’ went round there and knocked on some doors!:D

Any updates on this one ?

Here is a lot more info. about N707QJ.

Norman King, QFM Flight Operations Administrator, reported from Sydney: The dust, literally, may have settled on the airframe, but there is one last chapter, perhaps two, in the story of XBA’s recovery. These last few words are written with much pride, but I hasten to add, not of the personal one which cometh before the fall. The pride is in the combined achievement of the bunch of mostly retired Aussie engineers who, in achieving what was said to be the impossible, are anxious to hear that they have passed on the baton shaped and crafted by Arthur Baird. Down through the generations, this tradition of integrity, as it has been called, has been handed onto the younger men and women who have embarked on a noble pursuit, that of aircraft maintenance engineering. In our time at Southend, we took under our wing one such young person, Shaun Bonnett. On a stint of work experience with ATC Lasham Ltd, we “borrowed” him to perform some airframe structure inspection tasks in an area that we dinosaurs would have had great difficulty accessing in the aft cargo hold behind the potable water tanks. Flexibility in the way our own frames could adapt to in our youth had now been transformed into the way we were able to take a mental approach to things, leaving the physical ability a little lacking. You win some, you lose some. The way Shaun deported himself in all aspects of this, his thoroughness, his attitude to the job, his inquisitiveness and notably his excellent manners, all those things you look for in an engineer, impressed us all no end. Knowing his passion to join the profession, we unanimously agreed that if Shaun were lost to the industry, the industry would be poorer for it. Our decision was immediately to take up his cause and do all we could to ensure his application for his long-held ambition to commence an apprenticeship succeeded. We wrote a reference for him, purchased some tools to start off his tool kit and passed on all the wisdom we could, based on our own beginnings over 40 years ago. He did us all the great honour of making a point of dropping into the Longreach Embassy on his last day of that particular assignment, bringing some afternoon tea with him for us to share, and with that, his thanks for the opportunity to work on XBA.

That was way back in mid-2006, with Shaun not then through his secondary school education which needed to be completed to a high standard before he could entertain the prospects of an apprenticeship interview.

Almost a year has passed and with that, we are delighted to tell you that he has done more than required of his school studies, with very high levels achieved in all the subjects that he needs to have to become that engineer he believes he is called to be.

In the last few weeks, he has attended two interviews, with ATC Lasham Ltd’s Base Manager, Ian Dorling, heading the interview Panel. The competition has been strong for the 4 positions on offer. The selection process for these precious places has been very thorough and Ian’s deliberation most intense. We should have the verdict on this very shortly.

While on the subject of UK supporters, another 707 experience was had by a small group of XBA engineers and one pilot during the first half of June, 2007. You will recall our engine diffuser case crack on #1 and failure to start problems on #2 and the man whose company came to our rescue. Tom Vaughan is his name, Turbine Motor Works his business, and while he was at Southend to witness XBA’s first test flight, we learnt of his plans to purchase one of the RAAF 707s for his own personal use. Negotiations were moving at a similar pace to those of XBA’s ownership wrangle, and he quite accurately estimated it to be many months off settling. In early June, Tom came down to Australia to attend the Longreach arrival ceremony and to wrap up the last of the purchase details with A20-261, as his 707 was then registered with the RAAF. We had vowed at Southend to return the favour Tom had done us, and to lend him a hand when it came to the work 261 needed to allow its delivery to Tom’s abode in the UK. Not long after he had returned home after the Longreach arrival, Tom was back in the country again to work on his aeroplane at RAAF Amberley, so a ring around soon saw 8 of us ensconced at a motel near Ipswich, from where we travelled each day for the next week or so to progress the work to get 261 flying again. This was mostly centred on the transformation of 261 from glider to powered aeroplane, as Tom had purchased an engine-less 707. No problem for a man with around a dozen JT3s from which to choose a ship set in his inventory back in Bury, Cambridgeshire, and it wasn’t long before we were engine running and making smoke as do all good 707s. To cut a long story short, Denis Martin, Robert Phillips, Norm Mackay, Jeff Craike, Roy Finney, Bill Hill, Paul Hockey, Mike Horneman and I spannered while Roger Walter spent some time doing some pilot conversion/refresher training with Tom, flying the test flight with him. The aeroplane departed for Kent International Airport (aka Manston) on Monday, 16 June, operated by Tom and a couple of hired Omega crew, arriving there a few days later after routing Amberley-Darwin-Male-Cairo-Manston faultlessly. For those of us who were part of that exercise, the Spirit of Southend reverberated in our hall of memories and we were grateful to have been able to make some small contribution to another historical 707s survival. In a neat bookend, we were pleased to discover that 261, or N707QJ as she was when she left these shores, is the most recently built commercial 707 surviving, the 5th last off the production line. The 4 built after her are all defunct. So with XBA and Tom’s 707 in our portfolio, we can say we have covered the 707 production from A to Z, so to speak.

And the news to cap all this off?

Ian Dorling announced today that Shaun Bonnett was successful in his bid for an apprenticeship in aircraft engineering with ATC Lasham Ltd at Southend.

We like to think that we had some good Qantas influence in this and leave it to Shaun to continue Arthur Baird’s legacy on our behalf, maintaining the tradition for which Qantas engineering was to become legend. And in the Mother country, too.

http://www.707.adastron.com/flyhome/diary-3.htm

No need to worry about N707QJ. The gentleman who owns it loves it.

Why would you assume it is going to be scrapped after having flown from Oz? I think it would be unusual to put it into the hangar to be scrapped.

Stop press news. It is in for hush-kitting.;)

Its in the DAS mainteance hanger as michael said being hush-kitted. anyone know where its going to be based after this?

PS I dont work at MSE, but if you like info I might be able to get you some:D

James

I’m certainly glad it’s not being broken up. I’m just a pessimist when I hear of classic jets being bought. I automatically think spares reclamation.:diablo:

J

Well, you won’t want to look at this site with details of other 707 demises!:D

http://www.aviation-friends-cologne.de/html/Boeing707/Boeing707.htm

I’m certainly glad it’s not being broken up. I’m just a pessimist when I hear of classic jets being bought. I automatically think spares reclamation.:diablo:

J

Any news on it’s future? Seems odd to put it on UK register to reduce it to spares, if that were to be the case.

Why would you assume it is going to be scrapped after having flown from Oz? I think it would be unusual to put it into the hangar to be scrapped.

Stop press news. It is in for hush-kitting.;)

This is the former A20-261 at Amberley on 3 July.

http://www.adastron.com/aviation/vault/A20-261-0202.JPG

http://www.adastron.com/aviation/vault/A20-261-0202.JPG

This 707 is not a 707-338 it is a 707-368 as it is not a former Qantas aircraft but rather s/n 21261 former HZ-ACI & N7486B and flew passenger operations in the Middle East before joining the RAAF.

regards

Mark Pilkington

TMW did such a superb job on the engines of a certain B707-138, he must have been impressed enough to actually buy a copy of the “next generation”?

Wish him well!!:D

Anyone have an idea of the ex-mil or civil rego?

G’day 😉

So is the aircraft a civil 707 or military C-135 (or whatever) ?

Roger Smith.

It’s a civil 707-338C that has been operated by the RAAF for several years.

So is the aircraft a civil 707 or military C-135 (or whatever) ?

Roger Smith.

Any news on it’s future?

This aircraft was part of the RAAF exhibit at Fairford (RIAT) last year.